Last Friday, I drove to Seneca Rocks with my brother, nephew, dad, sister, and brother-in-law. Together we hiked to the top of the rocks. This is my third such pilgrimmage in the last month. This time, I had the privilege of sharing the journey with my family.
My brother, interestingly enough, also recently hiked to the summit of Mount Whitney in California. While the views were significantly different, the appreciation of the summit was highly similar I'm sure.
So this week, we all returned to our "normal" routines. I returned to Morgantown to fully engage in the prep work involved in opening a cafe, as well as the work involved with preparing a church, and a college ministry for the arrival of approximately 27,000 students. My brother returned to the busyness of caring for his wife and son and balancing responsibilities to work, family, and community in his daily life.
My dad and sister and brother in law returned to not having us around, not waking up and planning out what we would do as a family, not sharing hikes, laughs, and quality time together.
It's been a period of adjustment. But isn't that the case with life. We are always going through periods of adjustment. Some days we are on the summit, and the view is beautiful, and the wind is blowing our hair across our face. And then some days are like a valley that gets no air, and it seems somewhat sufficating.
In the middle of it all, God remains constant. God walks with us in tough times. God is our sustainance and our hope.
Sunday I was talking with my dad and sister briefly en route from a baptism at our church in Morgantown where over 60 people were baptized, and they mentioned that one of our relatives had a stroke. My sister called yesterday afternoon to tell me that the same relative, Lizzie Cooper, went to be with Jesus yesterday.
Lizzie was an amazing woman of God, and an inspiration to many. Her departure was both sudden and unexpected. She was just recently teasing my dad because he missed Sunday school (he came up to Morgantown that weekend).
Now she is with my mom who is with Jesus. Everything is better than being on the summit for them. For us, we will continue to grow and persevere in faithfulness, using our time, our efforts, and our talents to glorify our maker Who is the true satisfaction of our lives. We will remember the summits, but even more we will remember the One who gave us the summit. We will lament the valleys, but even more we will praise the One who rescues us from an eternity far worse than any temporal valley.
My brother, interestingly enough, also recently hiked to the summit of Mount Whitney in California. While the views were significantly different, the appreciation of the summit was highly similar I'm sure.
So this week, we all returned to our "normal" routines. I returned to Morgantown to fully engage in the prep work involved in opening a cafe, as well as the work involved with preparing a church, and a college ministry for the arrival of approximately 27,000 students. My brother returned to the busyness of caring for his wife and son and balancing responsibilities to work, family, and community in his daily life.
My dad and sister and brother in law returned to not having us around, not waking up and planning out what we would do as a family, not sharing hikes, laughs, and quality time together.
It's been a period of adjustment. But isn't that the case with life. We are always going through periods of adjustment. Some days we are on the summit, and the view is beautiful, and the wind is blowing our hair across our face. And then some days are like a valley that gets no air, and it seems somewhat sufficating.
In the middle of it all, God remains constant. God walks with us in tough times. God is our sustainance and our hope.
Sunday I was talking with my dad and sister briefly en route from a baptism at our church in Morgantown where over 60 people were baptized, and they mentioned that one of our relatives had a stroke. My sister called yesterday afternoon to tell me that the same relative, Lizzie Cooper, went to be with Jesus yesterday.
Lizzie was an amazing woman of God, and an inspiration to many. Her departure was both sudden and unexpected. She was just recently teasing my dad because he missed Sunday school (he came up to Morgantown that weekend).
Now she is with my mom who is with Jesus. Everything is better than being on the summit for them. For us, we will continue to grow and persevere in faithfulness, using our time, our efforts, and our talents to glorify our maker Who is the true satisfaction of our lives. We will remember the summits, but even more we will remember the One who gave us the summit. We will lament the valleys, but even more we will praise the One who rescues us from an eternity far worse than any temporal valley.
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